Project overview
3DBigDataSpace seeks to greatly expand the availability of high-quality 3D content within the European Data Space for Cultural Heritage. This goal will be accomplished by aggregating datasets from diverse providers, creating a stable, long-term Europe-wide storage solution for 3D models, and enhancing data quality using advanced AI enrichment technologies. The project also aims to develop new tools and methods to facilitate the use of this extensive 3D model collection in Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and 4D world applications.
Key objectives & strategic goals
3DBigDataSpace will provide a complete, end-to-end workflow for the aggregation, storage, and enhancement of 3D content. The project will establish robust data aggregation pipelines, test storage solutions, and apply advanced AI tools for enriching data quality. Additionally, this initiative will cultivate a dynamic ecosystem of front-end tools for VR, AR, and 4D applications, opening up innovative and expansive ways to engage with cultural heritage.
Expanding High-Quality 3D Content: Integrating over 50,000 3D models into the European data space for cultural heritage, with more than 1,000 models accessible via Europeana.eu.
Building Europe-Wide 3D Data Storage: Testing a public storage infrastructure for 3D data based on European repositories to ensure accessibility and long-term availability of 3D datasets.
AI-Powered Data Enrichment: Testing and deploying AI-driven pipelines to enhance content classification, geolocation, and metadata quality, improving discoverability and reusability.
Developing Tools for 3D and 4D Experiences: Creating a set of Europe-wide accessible tools, including 3D viewers, AR viewers, and 4D world views to enable innovative digital cultural heritage experiences.
Showcasing and Validation: Running demonstration cases in museums, heritage sites, and local networks to illustrate the potential for 3D content reuse and boost engagement through educational and outreach activities.
Training and Capacity Building: Launching a comprehensive training program involving over 200 students, with the goal of reaching more than 4,000 scholars and professionals and engaging 20,000 individuals through demo cases.
The project consortium
The project unites a consortium of leading cultural heritage organizations, research institutions, and tech companies to drive the use of 3D data in XR applications and beyond.
- Coordinator: Time Machine Organisation
- Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
- IN2 Digital Innovations GmbH
- Stichting Europeana
- Inception SRL
- Fondazione Bruno Kessler
- rooom AG
- The HUNT Museum
- Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Centre
- University of Vigo
rooom as a hi-tech platform and digital infrastructure provider is responsible for delivering cutting-edge solutions for 3D data acquisition, management, and sharing. The diverse group of partners covers the entire cultural 3D data supply chain.
Challenges & opportunities
The project tackles the challenges surrounding the effective use of today’s vast 3D content resources. With large-scale datasets containing millions of 3D models, the priority has shifted from simply ensuring availability to maximizing the usability of this data. Key challenges include guaranteeing long-term accessibility, enhancing discoverability and reusability, and meeting the varied needs of users across different sectors.
“With the 3DBigDataSpace project, we are addressing some of the major challenges in the data space by significantly increasing the amount of 3D data, opening up and testing pan-European storage options, and enabling metadata enrichment and viewer tools that can be used at scale“, states Sander Münster of the Time Machine Organisation.
The future of digital cultural heritage
3DBigDataSpace is set to be instrumental in the digital transformation of the cultural heritage sector. By vastly expanding the availability and quality of 3D content and offering innovative tools and methods for its reuse, the project supports the European Commission’s goal to digitize all endangered monuments and cultural heritage sites by 2030. This ambitious effort will preserve Europe’s rich cultural heritage while making it more accessible and engaging for future generations.
